Nikon D80 utility lens

[Chumpy]

Hi,
I own a Nikon D80, bought with the stock 28-135 Nikon lens.
Its my first real DSLR, and my first real experiment with SLR as a whole.

I want to take nice close shots of 2 extreme things.
1/. Close ups of Marine corals, or fishes (Like a fish face being the full frame)
2/. I want some decent level of zoom for non-closeup work.

I realise that this may be 2 different lenses, but...
1/. Can anyone recommend decent lenses to purchase for each purpose?
2/. Is there a lens I could use, to maybe cheat and get both purposes, say a 70-300 with macro?
3/. Should I stick with Nikon/Nikkor, and go for a VR lens, or get a non-VR, or possibly Sigma / Tamron? I'm not sure if I will need the VR, and I figure I may buy a cheapie one to try, and if I like it sell it, and buy the VR version.

Any help appreciated.

Cheers